White House Sides With TSA in Rand Paul Standoff

The White House is standing by the Transportation Security Administration in its standoff with Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and his father, Republican Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron of Texas.

The elder Paul called the TSA a "police state" Monday after his son Rand Paul was reportedly detained by TSA after he refused to take a pat-down from TSA officials at the Nashville International Airport.

Ron Paul says it shows why the TSA should be eliminated. "The police state in this country is growing out of control....The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe," which he says is why it needs to be abolished and dismantled.

White House press secretary Jay Carney had no reaction to Paul's "police state" comments. Carney did, however, side with the TSA saying, "I think it is absolutely essential that we take necessary actions to ensure that air travel is safe."

TSA is defending its treatment of Rand Paul, saying its employees followed normal procedure with the senator, who has also been critical of the agency's policy on pat-downs.